RIMERSBURG, Clarion County — If it's not broke, don't fix it, but Cookie Daze will be getting a few tweaks this year.

The event returns Aug. 9 and runs through Aug. 11 on Main Street in Rimersburg.

The annual festival begins with a parade and fireworks Aug. 9, followed by cart races and a kiddies' parade Aug. 10. There will be a car cruise and motorcycle rally Sunday.

Throughout the weekend there will be food, rides and live music.

“I'd say we had a couple thousand for the car cruise Sunday and the parade Friday” last year, said Susan Barger, Rimersburg Chamber of Commerce treasurer and member of the Cookie Daze committee. “On Saturday, we have a lot of people, but they are in and out all day.”

Barger said a few new wrinkles have been added this year, the 30th for the event.

“The theme this year is 'Fairy Tale Cookie Daze,'” said Barger, adding that floats for the parade will have a fairy tale theme.

“This year we are having a fun run. It is for kids up to 12 years of age,” said Barger.

“I guess they dress up as their favorite superheroes or supervillains and they walk or run for a mile.”

Some things will stay the same.

The parade which gets under way at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 9 will still feature drill teams, fire companies, floats, cheerleaders and the Union High School football team carrying an outsized American flag.

“After the parade, there will be a memorial service in the park in honor of Civil War veteran and Medal of Honor winner Jeremiah Brown,” said Jim McCullough, curator of the Donald R. Lobugh War Museum.

“Captain Brown and his troops stormed a battery at Petersburg, Va., and took the battery. He still has descendants in the area,” McCullough said.

He added there also would be a Civil War Ball, in the Rimersburg Community Building, after the parade.

“We expect to have a lot of re-enactors for that, and we encourage that, but it is not a requirement,” he said.

And Cookie Daze could hardly do without the Aug. 10 bed races, Barger said.

“We don't even know who started it or why it was started,” she said. Teams of five people, four pushers and one costumed rider, this year dressed as a baby, race on Main Street, stopping to perform tasks such as eating a cookie then whistling before continuing the race.

Winners get bragging rights and their team name on a traveling trophy, she said.

Another big attraction will be the cookie cart races at 3 p.m. Aug. 10 on Main Street, she said.

“Cookie carts are like Soapbox Derby cars,” she said. “We will have three different age categories. Three different drivers can use the same cart. It's for children and adults.”

And beginning at noon Aug. 10, the park will host Civil War-era re-enactors, McCullough said, as well as an exhibit of 1860s embalming instruments and equipment and a presentation by Bret Schweinfurth of Oil City on the Invalid Corps.

The car cruise will begin at 3 p.m. Aug. 11.

Barger said there were about 300 cars at Cookie Daze last year. “We had cars everywhere,” she said.

“We had 305 cars last year,” said Scott Campbell, who organizes the car cruise with Jason Jordan. “Last year was the best year we ever had.

“This year? It all depends on the weather,” Campbell said, adding the cruise will go on rain or shine.

Campbell said cruise entrants can register the day of the cruise at a tent in front of Clarion County Community Bank.

“We are giving away 250 T-shirts and 300 dash plaques on a first-come, first-served basis to those registering their cars,” Campbell said.

“This year we are also doing five cash giveaways at the end of the cruise. You have to be present to win,” he said.

<b>Aug. 9</b>Midway and vendors open, 3 to 10 p.m.Parade, 6:30 p.m.Civil War Ball, Rimersburg Community building, after the paradeStreet dance on Main Street after the parade<b>Aug. 10</b>Fun Run, 7:30 a.m. registration, 8:15 a.m. start5K Race, 8 a.m. registration, 9 a.m. startChildren’s ID cards, 9 a.m. in front of Clarion County Community Bank buildingPower Wheels Cruise-In, 9:30 a.m. registration, 10 a.m. startMidway and vendors open, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.Kids’ Tractor Pull, 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.Big Wheel Races, 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.Bed Races, 1 p.m.Concert in the park, Acoustic Shadows, 1 p.m.Cookie Cart Races, 3 p.m.Live Music on Main Street by Jackson Monsour, 7 to 10 p.m.<b>Aug. 11</b>Midway and vendors open, noon to 7 p.m.Corn Hole Tournament, parking lot of Heeter Lumber Co., 1 p.m.Concert in the park, Homefront, 2 p.m.Cookie Daze car cruise, 3 p.m.DJ and movie in parking lot across from Veterans Memorial Park, 6 p.m.